The work of a Police Service Dog (PSD) is extremely dangerous and very unpredictable. Statistics indicate that one in four dog handlers will be involved in an armed encounter while working. The reality of this type of work is that virtually every call a canine team attends is in progress. The most common types of all calls attended to on a regular basis would include Armed Robberies in progress. Break and Enters in progress, Thefts in progress, Assaults in progress, calls involving people who have armed themselves with some form of weapon, and Traffic Pursuits. On top of these types of "regular calls" there are a growing number of dog handlers who have trained their Police Service Dogs to work in conjunction with "Special Weapons and Tactics Teams", commonly referred to as SWAT, or "Emergency Response Teams", commonly referred to as ERT.
If an ERT Team is involved, then the situation very likely involves guns and other dangerous weapons, barricaded persons, and or hostages. The role of the Police Service Dog in a SWAT or ERT scenario is multi-dimensional and highly specialized. The police dog is generally used for his scenting abilities to locate hidden persons and on occasion, for an apprehension, or extraction without lethal force.
Tactical deployment scenarios in conjunction with an entire SWAT/ERT team include:
Stealth on line room clearing searches; PA1 Dynamic entries; and PA1 High risk bush tracking for serious criminal offenses (daylight/night with Night Vision Equipment and Infra Red). PA1 (a) a carrier of synthetic textile material adapted to cover the underside of a dog, fastening means on side edges of the carrier to fasten the carrier along the back portion of the dog; PA1 (b) a plurality of panels of ballistic material held in place by the carrier to protect at least a chest portion and vital portions of sides of the dog.
The primary purpose of the vest is to provide the police dog with soft body armour similar to that worn by Police Officers all over the world. The vest not only builds in ballistic protection covering the dog's vital organs but it does so without restricting the dog's ability to move. Agility cannot be sacrificed for ballistic protection. Doing so would disable the dog, making him a slow-moving, easy target.
The invention seeks to provide a vest which covers a dog's vital organs, chest, back and stomach. The carrier is made of a flat back, non reflective cordura which it is lightweight and rugged. The vest ends forward of the dog's rear legs and hips, so as not to restrict speed and movement. This design also allows canine to relieve himself as required without soiling the vest or removal of same.
Furthermore, the vest includes a rappelling harness designed to allow the dog to accompany the handler in rappelling situations such as off buildings and helicopters. When the rappel is completed the carabineer is quickly removed allowing the dog to be immediately available for tactical deployment.